You will negotiate a real deal and review the outcome against your preparation.
You've prepared negotiations on paper and rehearsed them with partners. This exercise is the real thing: a negotiation you actually hold this month, with real money and a real person on the other side. Keep the stakes low on purpose. The point is to run the whole method once, from preparation to review, on something where a mistake costs you little.
Allow about 30 minutes of preparation and review, plus however long the negotiation itself takes. Priya, from lesson 8.1, Renewing or signing a lease, is the worked example, with figures that are examples.
Good candidates are things you're paying for anyway and could pay less for, or get more from: a phone or broadband plan nearing the end of its contract, a gym membership, a quote for aircon servicing or a household repair, a rent renewal if one is coming up, or a price for a second-hand item you're buying or selling.
Pick one where you'd be fine walking away. That's what keeps it low-stakes, and it gives you a real BATNA to lean on.
Priya picks her mobile plan. Her two-year contract ends next month. She pays S$40 a month. A competing telco offers a plan with similar data for S$30 a month, and her own provider's website shows a SIM-only plan at S$35.
Use a shortened version of the preparation worksheet from lesson 3.4, Complete your preparation worksheet. For a small negotiation, half a page is enough. Write a line or two for each of these:
Interests: what you need, and what the other side probably needs BATNA: what you'll do if there's no deal Reservation point and target Your opening and its reason One concession you're willing to make, and what you'll ask for in return The tactic you expect, and your response
Priya's version: She wants low cost and no change of number; the provider wants to keep a customer who pays on time. Her BATNA is switching to the competitor at S$30 and porting her number. Her reservation point is S$32: switching takes an afternoon, so she'd stay for S$32 or less, but anything higher isn't worth it. Her target is S$30. She'll open by asking them to match S$30, citing the competitor's plan by name. Her concession: she'll accept a new 12-month contract if they match the price. She expects "this offer is only available today" and plans to reply that she'll compare and call back.
Now do it. Call, visit or message, whichever suits. Keep your worksheet in front of you.
As it happens, note three things: the first offer you heard, your counter, and the final terms. Write them down straight afterwards, before you forget the details.
Priya calls the retention line. The agent's first offer is S$35 on a new 24-month contract. She replies with her opening: the competitor offers similar data for S$30, and she'd like them to match it. The agent says S$32 is the lowest available. Priya asks whether S$30 is possible on a 12-month contract instead, using her planned concession. After a pause and a check with a supervisor, the agent agrees to S$30 on 24 months, with a small data bonus. Priya accepts, and asks for the terms to be confirmed by email or SMS.
Within a day, write a half-page review covering three things.
First, the outcome in numbers. Priya's saving is S$10 a month, which over the 24-month contract comes to S$240. Put your before and after terms side by side.
Second, what worked. For Priya, naming the competitor's plan and price gave her a criterion the agent couldn't dismiss, and having a real BATNA meant the S$32 offer didn't feel like a final answer.
Third, what you'd change. Priya accepted a 24-month term when she'd hoped for 12. Next time she'd hold the term as a separate issue, rather than letting it move at the end.
Compare your result with your worksheet. Did you land between your reservation point and your target? Did the tactic you expected show up? Did anything surprise you?
You've finished when you've held one real negotiation, recorded the first offer, your counter and the final terms, and written a review that includes the gain in dollars, what worked and what you'd change. Even a negotiation that ended with no deal counts, as long as you walked away for a reason your worksheet would support.
The activity asks you to complete your own everyday negotiation and write the half-page review.
Complete one real everyday negotiation and write a half-page review covering your preparation, the outcome and the lesson.
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